Incite Unexpected Emotion

"Putting faith in Surprise can turn yesterday’s fish-wrapped news into today’s neon headlines"

Considering it “research” during his time as the CEO for Montreal’s comedy festival, Just For Laughs, Nulman developed something he called The Surprise Theory Quartet:

1. Everyone’s a Kid in Disneyland
2. Balls Beat Brains; Balls Beat Budgets
3. Little Things Mean A Lot
4. Sometimes, There is No Reason

Whether you’re pitching a new product, creating a customer retention program or seeking feedback on your latest product development, Nulman suggests that adding the element of Surprise (and yes, deliberately capitalizing Surprise to give it the emphasis it deserves, Nulman-style) into your campaign instantly creates an “ultra-important point of differentiation” (page 2).  It gives your campaign the “wow” factor that makes other people want to talk about it – and talk about it a lot – to their friends and family.  And who do we trust for recommendations on products and services?  Our friends and family.  Keep in mind the “ultimate goal of expanding the boundaries of delightful extremes” (page 140) and you’ll have a winner every time.

Create It

"Despite the fact that this tome may have been classified as a “Business” book by the literary powers that be, frankly, the actual act of creating Surprise is more at home in the world of art than in the world of business"

Art takes creativity.  It’s takes out-of-the-box thinking along with doing things that haven’t been done before – or doing things differently than they’ve always been done.  That uniqueness is the foundation of Surprise – creating a new experience for your audience – and the best way to create Surprise is to just do it.  Like learning to kiss or falling in love, you get better with practice…so get out there and practice!  Think big, think crazy and think like a kid.  First, take away the limits…brainstorm in a way we call “big sky” with no limitations on budget, timelines, political boundaries, or geography.  Don’t think of any current campaigns and what may or may not fit into the current strategic plan.  Think of ways your customers currently interact with your product or service and ways they may want to interact.  Think of how you use your product and how you’d like to use it differently.  What other products or services out there are complementary to yours and what products are complete opposites but your customers may use them in similar environments.  Like a camping lantern and a cell phone charger.  The two products hardly belong together… unless your customer is a professional who likes to camp with his family on the weekends.  Wouldn’t it be great if he could charge his electronics at the same time as he’s playing cards with his kids by lantern light? How Surprised would you be to see a plug-in on the side of the lantern?  Alternative thinking to produce unexpected results.

Keep those Surprises coming!

"Consider Surprise a rapidly perishable good that must be replenished quickly.  Expecting a Surprise only serves to accelerate this deterioration process. Maintaining the flow ensures that it never comes."

A great Surprise is a powerful tool to get people excited, to get people talking, and to keep people wanting more.  But unless you keep people wondering what’s going to happen next, Surprise will meet its very own kryptonite…the expected and mundane.  The weakness of Surprise is its short lifespan.  Unless we keep that Surprise coming, the short-attention span of today’s consumers will quickly move on to the next Surprising thing.  Nulman defines Surprise this way: “The constant expansion of the boundaries of delightful extremes” (page 68).  The key word in that sentence is constant… Surprise needs to be continual to be effective.  People want to keep being entertained, wondering what you’re going to pull off next, waiting with anticipation to see what the creative-types in your organization have up their sleeves.  One Surprise campaign should lead into the next and the “shock and awe” should excite and delight in different ways than your customers have experienced before.  Like the recent success of the Old Spice commercials showing a man in a shower transitioning to a scene on a boat with diamonds falling out of his hands before landing backwards on a horse. All this to sell an already popular men’s deodorant in a way that’s never been done before.  Simple product, powerful Surprise – wonder what’s going to happen next?